baking

It has been a week of pies. We made a discovery- Mulberries. You know, like in the song All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel? I'd seen these bushes all around the neighborhood and never paid much attention to them. Then we saw a guy at the park eating the berries with his kids and asked him about them. Mulberries. Perfectly edible. They look like blackberries but smaller.

My daughter insisted on picking enough for a pie. So we did.

This pie looks particularly dark because I was out of white flour and made an all-wheat flour crust. It has a surprising flavor once the berries are sugared- kind of like grapes! And once cooked they have an interesting chewy texture. It's good, though. And nutritious!

I also made more bread this weekend- with the recipe I photocopied out of Jenna's book Made from Scratch. I made a loaf and a braid, but my braid cooked out flat so you can't even tell that's what it was. I kneaded the dough a lot longer this time and the bread had a very nice texture, but still doesn't rise as much as I want. O well. At least the kids were happy having it for sandwiches and spread warm with honey.